DIN SPEC 66336 and the OZSV: Standards for OZG-compliant digitisation
At its last meeting, the IT Planning Council approved the draft ordinance on standards for online access to administrative services (OZSV). This establishes uniform standards within the meaning of Section 6 OZG.
The following standards are defined:
Federal IT Architecture Directive (§ 1 OZSV) defines architecture specifications for information technology systems, such as interoperability, architecture guidelines and data protection.
DIN SPEC 66336 (§ 2 OZSV) defines quality requirements for information technology systems, such as KPIs to be collected for online services.
The digitalisation of administration in Germany is progressing - driven by the Online Access Act (OZG) and the growing expectations of bodies such as the IT Planning Council. It is the acid test for the new Ministry of Digital Affairs, as administrative digitalisation must now also have a tangible impact on citizens.
This is where DIN SPEC 66336 comes in. It creates the basis for modern, digital and user-friendly online services.
DIN SPEC 66336 is a technical standard for the OZG-compliant design of interfaces. It was developed with the participation of experts from administration, science and business and published as part of the OZG architecture.
It serves as an orientation framework for modern, user-friendly and accessible eGovernment services.
DIN SPEC 66336 describes central technical and semantic requirements:
Standardised interface descriptions (e.g. REST APIs)
Use of open data formats (such as JSON, XML)
Referencing of existing standards (e.g. XÖV, DCAT-AP.de)
Accessibility and user-orientation
Collection of user-related KPIs
It also describes a structured development and testing process for new interfaces - including quality assurance.
With the new Ordinance on Standards for Online Access to Administrative Services (OZSV), the federal administration is taking a significant step towards uniform, user-centred and sustainable administrative digitalisation. For the first time, the OZSV makes binding what has often only been a recommendation: quality, interoperability and architecture standards in federal eGovernment. But what exactly does it say - and what do local authorities, service providers and online service providers now have to consider?
The OZSV (Online Access Standard Ordinance) is a legal ordinance issued by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Home Affairs (BMI) on the basis of Section 6 OZG. It was published in the draft bill in June 2025 and is expected to come into force at the beginning of 2026.
The OZSV defines uniform standards for digital access to administrative services. It thus creates legal and planning certainty for public authorities and IT providers and fundamentally promotes Germany's digital sovereignty.
The regulation is expected to come into force at the beginning of 2026. The standards will apply immediately to new systems going into operation. Existing systems must be fully converted by 31 March 2030 at the latest. Only those who are still operating their systems by the end of 2027 can invoke a transition period.
A central element of the OZSV is DIN SPEC 66336, a standard published in April 2025 that sets out comprehensive quality requirements for digital administrative services. It is not a detailed technical set of rules, but a holistic framework for modern, user-friendly and accessible eGovernment services. With the OZSV, it is now binding for all public authorities.
The standard requires, among other things, that digital services are designed to be accessible and orientated towards the needs of users. Multilingualism, comprehensible wording, intuitive usability and the ability to cache applications are just as much a part of the requirements as a structured approach to user feedback. In addition, the DIN SPEC requires that key figures on the use, effectiveness and quality of digital services are regularly collected and documented. These include, for example:
User analysis & user satisfaction
Digital accessibility
Page visitors and abandonment rates
Open standards and interfaces (self-service APIs)
Usage feedback and provision of key figures
Open source and transparency (e.g. source code publication)
Notification of legal change requirements
For local authorities, this means that even if they purchase digital solutions from third parties or operate them in cooperation with federal states, they themselves are responsible for ensuring that these solutions fulfil the requirements of DIN SPEC 66336. In practice, this leads to higher demands on the management, documentation and quality assurance of digital projects. Municipal IT and specialist departments must work more closely together to ensure that implementation complies with the regulations.
Note: Strictly speaking, the law does not explicitly require compliance with DIN SPEC 66336; the regulation states that "measures must be taken in accordance with the recognised rules of technology". This is assumed to be the case if DIN SPEC 66336 is complied with. It is therefore advisable to comply with this already recognised standard.
In addition to DIN SPEC 66336, the OZSV also refers to the Federal IT Architecture Guideline (version 1.9.0) as a binding basis for the technical design of digital administrative services. This guideline was adopted by the IT Planning Council and defines how federal IT systems should be set up, operated and networked. It is divided into general, business, functional and technical specifications and thus covers the entire architecture spectrum.
For providers of online application services or interface platforms, the guideline means one thing above all: they should guarantee open interfaces (e.g. REST APIs based on XÖV standards), interoperability, security standards in accordance with BSI specifications and data protection compliance in accordance with the GDPR. Modularity, scalability and reusability are also regulated. Like DIN SPEC 66336, the architecture guideline is divided into "should" and "must" regulations.
Another aspect is the promotion of digital sovereignty: dependencies on individual providers should be reduced, which should be ensured through interoperability and architectural specifications for sovereignty. This should avoid proprietary isolated solutions.
With LeistungsLotse, we not only focus on user-centred applications, but also on the optimal implementation of DIN SPEC 66336, thus reflecting the "best practice" approach for future-oriented digital products.
Contact usThe current architecture directive has a lot of good things in it. Unfortunately, at second glance you realise that interoperability and collaboration options are merely "should" regulations, i.e. they do not really commit to standards. This is hardly consistent if digital sovereignty is considered a "must" regulation.
DIN SPEC 66336 finally sets a standard for online services that has long applied to private online services. Digital offerings should be thought of more as a "process" and not as a "state". Optimisation of the online offer based on user data such as page visitor, CTR and conversion rate. This means that problems in the application process can be intercepted before they arise. Unfortunately, the standard is not mandatory "per se", but only represents a presumption for ensuring the quality of information technology systems. The actual design may therefore differ.
Incidentally, LeistungsLotse already offers a solution for collecting the DIN SPEC 66336-specific key figures and for implementing this standard in the online service.
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